There was an ominous sensation of deja vu and collective groans following the 2024 Formula One season opener, as reigning three-time world champion Max Verstappen cantered to a 22.4-second win at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Given during the previous season, 26-year-old Verstappen romped to 19 wins – breaking his own all-time record for most wins in a season for an individual driver – as well as featured on the podium 21 out of 22 races and on his own outscored the second-best constructor, there’s no surprise to the adverse response to the Dutchman’s latest victory.
The processional rhetoric of the indomitable Verstappen and Red Bull combination, to be worn thin on even the freshest of fans, whose viewership and commitment Formula One has enjoyed grossly following the pandemic years.
Max Verstappen of Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates after winning the F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)
Though it’s easy to be consigned to the doom of the Red Bull rampancy and Verstappen to have already a hand around the championship trophy, it is too early to be hitting the panic button just yet.
It is difficult to picture a time in Formula One, when the right to supremacy wasn’t cyclical in nature. Before this latest run by Red Bull since the introduction of the ground-effect technical regulations, Mercedes had an eight-year stranglehold on the constructor’s championship – having mastered the V6 turbo-hybrid transition and subsequent aero regulation tweaks.
Only in the mid-to-late 2000s was there variation in the championship winners, between Ferrari’s domination with Michael Schumacher and before Red Bull’s initial glory years with Sebastian Vettel from 2010.
Comparison between eras and dynasties, while offering a pantheon for the aforementioned teams to sit in separate to those who’ve not achieved those dizzying heights, seems elementary given that the quality in performance between the eras grows from team to team.
Yes, while waxing lyrical and showing appreciation for the achievement of said dominant teams is not making the show any better, the only thing that will is continual development from the chasing pack. It cannot be stressed enough that interference from the sport’s governing body in the FIA or commercial rights holder Liberty Media to slow Red Bull down will be far more detrimental than the natural progression from the teams.
In the days preceding the cost cap, when blank checks could be readily thrown into development, it was rare to see an exponential leap from a team on the fringe of being a race winner to a bonafide title contender. Neither Ferrari nor Red Bull could, for various reasons, topple Mercedes before 2021 despite their vast resources.
Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 at Bahrain International Circuit. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images
The drastic progress seen by Aston Martin and McLaren for example in 2023 at different stages – under the cost cap too – should provide optimism that with the right people in place, Red Bull can be beatable. However, that doesn’t account for the continual developments they are making – with the technical genius of Adrian Newey still spearheading them.
So while the sight of Verstappen doubling his victory margin from the Bahrain Grand Prix twelve months ago is disheartening, it is early days in what’s going to be the longest season of Formula One. Cycles have been broken and the best can be broken.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Throughout last year, I couldn't help but compare the sort of season Verstappen was having to Marquez's mighty 2019 where he scored 420 out of Honda's 426 team championship points and outscored second placed Dovizioso by 6-race wins worth of points. His teammate that year? Lorenzo who by no means a slouch, couldn't even crack the top ten on that Honda.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
:sick: :sick: :sick: Is my reaction to the proposed Mario Kart circuit.
Blink
Roar Rookie
But when Newey is in the team its all about his technical genius (he denies it). But when Ferrari and Mercedes had their dominance there was no Newey to be a media puppet. How journos like to link and cling to a reason. Newey says its a collaboration and had frequent conversations with Vettel and no doubt Verstappen now. They find an angle and try and exploit it. There may have been a similar situation in Moto GP where Honda created a bike for Marc Marquez where he dominated but no-one else could ride the bike and currently they're out the back door because it is still to difficult to ride even though Marquez is gone. Certainly previous Red Bull drivers Gasly, Albon had a lot of problems with the car and getting with-in 0.5 secs of Verstappen. I think Albon, Norris and Russell are much the same pace ( and I'm pretty sure they think the same having raced each other all the way through their development). Super fast but not WDC fast like Verstappen or the waning Hamilton. They need a faster car to win. Verstappen doesn't. With Perez as number one its doubful Red Bull win the races.
Wolzal
Roar Rookie
The other factor rarely raised when comparing eras is the cars today are near bulletproof, or at the very least, designed in such a way that the problems that arise during a race are more manageable. The cars in the 70s, 80s, even 90s were made of glass by comparison. They’d drop oil, chew gearboxes and detonate engines. Even the suspension components of today can take beating; Damon Hill wishes it was as robust in ’94. Half the field would retire through failures, while the next quarter would be laps down. If you had 10 cars finish you’d be lucky for most of them to be on the lead lap. People often look back on the 70s and 80s as some golden period of fierce on track action, when it really wasn’t. Much like today, positional changes were often the result of tyre and/or fuel strategies creating a performance deficit at different points in the race. There’s talk that the Saudis are planning on building some wild circuit likened to Mario Kart track, with flashy lights and unseen elevation changes. Maybe we need a few blue shells too.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
It is crazy to think the lengths that drivers would go to in that era, in pursuit of the maximum. We can only be grateful that those limits can be explored today without the constant threat of fatality or even serious injury.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
For sure Sarah, you summed it up spot on about Verstappen and the RB20. So amongst the dominance, we have to recognise the perfect harmony between driver and car - which in this case too sees the organic element being that difference to maximise the performance.
Sarah Thomas
Roar Rookie
I completely agree. Red Bull's dominance is only encouraging faster times and cars for other drivers, especially after the livery's in which most cars seemed to take on the RB19 concept. However, I also think that the RB20 is an almost undrivable car when you look at the sensitivity of the front, and only Verstappen is good enough to drive it.
mrl
Roar Rookie
In the 60's and 70's there was always the chance the best driver would be killed or seriously injured and his car wrecked. Thereby giving everyone else a chance. That scenario does not play out these days, thankfully. It seems the best car wins these days rather than the best driver.